Air drier



April 22, 1952 D. E. WOODBRIDGE AIR DRIER Filed Feb. 8, 1950 I INVENTOR.

' wz hz woodbrid Jlttor-ne s Patented Apr. 22, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIR DRIER Dwight Elivi Woodbridge, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application February 8, 1950, Serial No. 143,071 L 2 Claims.

This invention relates to air drying means which may be used advantageously as a part of an apparatus for drying hair of persons as is done in beauty parlors and like establishments.

The principal object of the present invention is the provision of air drying means of the indicated character which embodies improvements in construction and operation as will hereinafter appear from the following specification, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which,

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an air dryer embodying the features of the present invention, certain portions being shown in elevation and others being broken away.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view takenon the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, it will be apparent that the dryer includes a cylindrical casing I having a side wall I I, a bottom wall 12 and a transverse partition or header wall l3 arranged above and in spaced relation to the wall 12 providing a distributing chamber I4. An atmospheric air inlet l5 formed on or connected with the Wall ll communicates with the chamber l4. The casing ID has a top header wall IS. The wall l6 together with the cylindrical side wall H and the partition l3 form a chamber l1 extending from the partition l3 to the top wall I6. An outlet I8 is formed on or connected with the wall II in communication with the chamber I 1.

Cooling means consisting of air tubes [9 are arranged in spaced parallel relation to each other.

They have their opposite lower and upper ends Y secured to the partition l3 and the top wall l6 respectively. A hood 20 is arranged over the top wall l6 and is secured to the casin H]. A perforated disk 2| is arranged within the hood 20 for sliding movement into different positions of adjustment with respect to'the tubes IS. The disk 2| serves as a damper or regulator to control the flow of air through the tubes 19 and out of the hood 20 for a purpose to appear.

A desiccant 22, such as activated alumina, or other suitable dehydrating agent fills the chamber H from the partition l3 to a point just below the outlet I8. The desiccant adsorbs moisture from the atmospheric air caused to flow through it from the chamber I4 by virtue of a multiplicity of apertures or ports 23 in the partition l3. The air is caused to flow by a motor driven blower 24 which operates in the inlet IS. The air is also a heated because of an exothermic action resulting from the adsorption. The dehydrated or dried air flows out through the outlet l8 to be used for any purpose, such as drying hair. It is to be understood that a suitable air distributor or applicator will be connected with the outlet l8 for the intended purposes.

2 Atmospheric air after entering the chamber I 4 is divided by the partition l3 so that some flows through the ports 23 as explained above,

and some of the air passes upwardly through the tubes [3. The air passing through the tubes I9 cools the desiccant and incidently reduces the temperature of the dehydrated air by dissipating the heat generated by the exothermic action resulting from the adsorption.

By adjusting the disk 2|, the cooling effect of the air flowing through the tubes IS with a corresponding change in the temperature of the air may be modified at will.

A motor driven blower 25 operating in the outlet It may be used to augment the action of the damper or regulator 2| by accelerating or decelerating the outflow of the dehydrated air.

After the desiccant 22 has become waterlogged, it is reactivated by steaming out the water content. For this purpose use is made of tubes 26 in each of which is disposed an electrical heating element 21. The tubes 26 have their lower and upper ends secured to the partition 13 and top wall It, respectively, and are embedded in the desiccant. It is to be understood that the dryer Will not be in normal operation during th reactivation of the desiccant. The electrical connections and source of energy for the heating elements 21 have been omitted for the sake of clearness.

I claim:

' 1. An air dryer including a hollow body having a main chamber, an air inlet chamber at one end of the main chamber, said main chamber having header Walls and an outlet, a desiccant within said main chamber, one of said header walls having apertures therein whereby atmospheric air may be caused to flow from the inlet chamber to said outlet through the desiccant to be dehydrated, and tubes connected with the header walls extending through the desiccant and communicating with the inlet chamber, for the passage of air from the inlet chamber through said tubes, for the purpose of cooling the dehydrated air.

2. An air dryer as set forth in claim 1, and means for regulating the flow of air through the tubes to modify the cooling efiect thereof.

DWIGHT ELIVIT WO ODBRIDGE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,066,847 McShea Jan. 5, 1937 2,083,732 Moore et al June 15, 1937 2,233,189 Altenkirch Feb. 25, 1941 

